Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainsboro Township grades A overall, 103rd of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally. The median household earns $132K and its schools rank ahead of 89% of New Jersey towns. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $683K for a typical one and 6.9 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 80% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Plainsboro Township, against 45% in New Jersey’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Plainsboro Township is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 94% of U.S. towns. Only 51 of New Jersey’s 530 towns score lower on hazard risk.
Where Plainsboro Township beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Plainsboro Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 9.6% |
Where Plainsboro Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Plainsboro Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 460 in 1920, 24,084 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1957 and 8 maps from 1888 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plainsboro Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw39 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & Museum
Big draw16 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi Stadium & arenaBarclays Center
Big draw35 mi MuseumLynnewood Hall
36 mi Stadium & arenaSports Illustrated StadiumConey Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Barclays Center: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Lynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sports Illustrated Stadium: Sam Szapucki, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainsboro Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Plainsboro Township.
Plainsboro Township draws workers from Hamilton Township and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of New Jersey, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New Jersey (mostly inland flooding).
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 4.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide.
12% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Plainsboro Township. Of the 468 New Jersey towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Plainsboro Township. 22% of adults have obesity in Plainsboro Township.
| Plainsboro Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 7.7% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Plainsboro Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 2.5% | 5.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 73.5% | 77.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $683K.
Its public schools are run by the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, with 1,510 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,029 | A |
| West Windsor-Plainsboro High School NorthLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,510 | A+ |
| Millstone River SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 772 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
18,211 jobs are based in Plainsboro Township, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 36% of workers work from home, against 16.8% across New Jersey.
36% of Plainsboro Township workers work from home. Jobs based in Plainsboro Township grew to 18,211 in 2023, 3,597 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Plainsboro Township is 33 minutes.
| Plainsboro Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 36% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $132,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of New Jersey towns, with expected losses of about $606 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Plainsboro Township’s FEMA risk score is 83 of 100. Since 1994, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plainsboro Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Bulk Farm Nature Center, at 72 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bulk Farm Nature Center | 0.3 mi | 72 |
| 2. Schalks Meadow Park | 0.3 mi | 18 |
| 3. Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park | — | 57 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Plainsboro Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Plainsboro Township's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 9 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Plainsboro Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.8 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
9 within 15 miles of the center of Plainsboro Township
About 6 of every 100 Plainsboro Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US
Plainsboro Township is a township situated in southern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, the township is an outer-ring suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area, even though it is slightly geographically closer to Center City, Philadelphia than to Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,084, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 1,085 (+4.7%) from the 22,999 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,784 (+13.8%) from the 20,215 counted in the 2000 census. Plainsboro was incorporated as a township on May 6, 1919, from land…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Plainsboro Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainsboro Township | #103 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| West Windsor Township | #77 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Princeton Junction | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Princeton Meadows | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| East Windsor Township | #254 | B | D | B+ | C+ | A |
| South Brunswick Township | #125 | A | D | B+ | A− | A |
| Cranbury Township | #25 | A+ | C | A− | A+ | A |
| Monmouth Junction | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Plainsboro Township and West Windsor Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Princeton Junction, Princeton Meadows and Monmouth Junction aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Plainsboro Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Plainsboro Township grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns and #103 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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